THE Christian feast day of Epiphany – Three Kings Day – celebrating the revelation of Baby Jesus as God, had a decidedly French flavour at St Ives School, Haslemere.

As part of the school’s emphasis on the importance of learning about other cultures, students enjoyed marking the event the Gallic way.

At Epiphany, French tradition dictates that the Cake of Kings is served – Galette des Rois. However, the special confection is no ordinary gateau. Inside each cake there is a small ceramic toy, and whoever finds the toy is crowned king for the day. To make this tradition authentic, the littlest person at the party needs to hide under the table, while the cake is cut and the slices are served.

The school chef spent the morning baking lots of galettes and inserting little ceramic toys into each of them. During lunch time, the youngest pupil at each table sat under it and decided who got which piece. Those lucky enough to find the ceramic toys in their slice of cake were allowed to wear a crown and were named king for the rest of the day.

Headteacher Kay Goldsworthy said: “This was such a fun way to involve the whole school in some French culture. I particularly enjoyed seeing the little ones hiding under the table shouting who should get which piece of cake and then seeing the delight on the children’s faces as they discovered the toys. It was a very noisy and chaotic lunch but lots of fun. I suspect it’ll become a St Ives tradition.”